The former BBC radio and TV presenter was described by his family in a heartfelt tribute as a ‘familiar and cherished figure on British television screens throughout the 1970s and 1980s’.
The Bristol-born star rose to fame on the satirical consumer affairs show That’s Life! alongside stars including Dame Esther Rantzen who last night said she was ‘very sad’ to hear that he had died.
‘He was as nice off camera as he was in the studio on camera – funny, clever, charming, a very versatile presenter,’ Dame Esther said.
‘When I first met him, he was a producer, but it was clear that he had all the attributes of the best reporters. ‘Viewers and listeners of That’s Life! and the many other radio and television programmes he presented will be equally sad.’
Dame Esther sent her ‘deepest sympathy’ to his friends and family. Others paid tribute to Serle on X with broadcaster Matthew Sweet wrote: ‘This is such painful news. Chris was a donnish and delightful giant of a man.
‘He had a shambling diffidence that suited him when he – for instance – performed opera on TV without being able to sing. But I’ll remember the warm & magnanimous silent movie fan, laughing in the dark.’
Actress Judy Matheson said: ‘This is so sad. He was in my 1st theatre company, travelling all over US; when I first went to rehearse in Bristol, he & his family put me up. He was such a terrific guy.
‘Further to my last post, a memory with the brilliant Chris Serle, with me in my 1st job with the Bristol Old Vic, on our US tour in the Garden of The Gods in Denver in 1967.
‘He never seemed to age. We were both novices in professional theatre, but Chris became a polymath. R.I.P.’ BBC News first reported Serle’s death yesterday, sharing a statement from his family.
